Religion versus Salvation

The simplicity of salvation: is it really simple? What is polluting the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world? Why does judgment begin in the House of God? I’m writing from the Spirit as I know Him and will simply be direct and forthright in what I’m about to write, in admonition of those who call themselves Christians.

Galatians 1:6-7 "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

I am appalled at the lying spirits infiltrating the world, but yet not surprised. Do we not know that the flesh wars against the Spirit? While God says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”, He also says that “knowledge puffs up”. So, while we need the knowledge of the truth (the gospel) so we do not fall into destruction (of our faith), we need to realize that the flesh then can take that knowledge, add to it, and puff itself up, exalt itself, which is the spirit of antichrist. Also, anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God is not of God. When man exalts himself (especially those who do NOT acknowledge God and thinks of his own knowledge as a “god”), he is accursed!

How does the latter situation manifest itself? Pride. When the simple gospel gets perverted by the churches to include conditional works, ordinances and rituals…or even added “spiritual” interpretation, it misses the mark and puffs up the person or peoples that practice and teach such things to others.

First, hearing of the Word brings conviction by the Holy Spirit ~ conviction of what? It means acknowledging you are a sinner and deserving of punishment. Have you ever lied? Stolen? Used the Lord’s name in vain? Lusted after someone? That’s all SIN and is WRONG.

In response to this realization is then to acknowledge what Jesus did for us. He was crucified while innocent and took the punishment on our behalf. Why would He do that? Understand; it is because you indeed deserve to die in your sin with no hope of reconciliation to God. God is the only One who is righteous and holy.

Salvation is confessing WHO Jesus is.

1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

If you don't know who Jesus is, please read my hub, which is the very question Jesus asked His disciples, "Who Do You Say That I AM?"

Lastly, we must also believe that Jesus rose from the dead! Look at what is stated in Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord [H: Yehovah/G: Kurios], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Let’s look at an example of how simple salvation is. In Luke 23, we see Jesus hanging on the cross between two thieves. I will call one the 'hardened thief' and the other the 'repentant thief'.  Both are sinners on either side of Him. Let’s look at the two attitudes of these thieves and how they correlate to the world-views today:

The hardened thief says to Jesus, “Are You not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" (Selfish!) Is this not the attitude of those who mock and reject God today? They ask, “Why does God allow suffering and pain?” (Note this thief had no admission of his guilt, nor his just consequence of death).

The repentant thief answers the hardened thief as follows: “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” Wow! He acknowledged their sinfulness and had reverence for God.

The repentant thief then says, “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." Wow again! This thief realizes the difference between right and wrong and the justness of his punishment. And he acknowledges the innocence of Jesus and His undeserved punishment!

Then, the repentant thief finally says to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" WOW?! His kingdom? Did the thief just acknowledge Jesus as the King? Did he believe Jesus would rise from the dead and rule in a heavenly kingdom?

How did Jesus respond to each of them? He said nothing to the hardened thief. John 9:31 says, “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.” Jesus only responded to the repentant thief by saying, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

Can a person be saved on his deathbed? Absolutely!

What is the simple gospel of salvation?

1. Acknowledge you are a sinner and rightfully condemned.
2. Acknowledge that Jesus died innocently on your behalf.
3. Acknowledge that He was raised from the dead, is Lord of lords and King of kings in His eternal kingdom, and gives us eternal life.

Now, you have perverted doctrines of the fleshly “church” that take off like wildfire from here. Did the repentant thief keep the commandments of God? YES! He loved Jesus enough to confess his sinful condition; he had compassion on Jesus’ innocent death, and believed in the kingdom of God, which would come after physical death. The repentant thief loved the hardened thief enough to tell him the truth. What about all the other commandments? There are no more commandments under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood! The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. For in doing this, you have fulfilled the whole Law (Mat 22:37-39; Gal 5:14).

The Bible does give believers instruction as to how to keep our faith from being stolen by the Adversary (Satan and his children). We get filled with the Holy Spirit, the power to overcome. While we naturally keep the two commandments of love shown above, that same love may draw people unto Him, and definitely edifies the body of Christ (other believers). We need to read the Word, in order to have the knowledge to stand against the false prophets out there. Besides, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God! We need to keep our faith in Him unwavering! The Bible says the righteous shall live by faith. I have many foundational hubs to help ground you in the Word of God! See my Index of Spiritual Hubs!

So, if you are desiring salvation, but are being told you have to be this and that and do this and that in order to be saved, beyond the simple gospel message, the Adversary is attempting to steal that desire by putting a spirit of condemnation upon you, causing you to doubt that you can be saved! Satan is a thief, a murderer and a destroyer. How in the world can you be and do all these things? If you fail to live a “religious” life, you lose your salvation? NO! The only thing that can cause you to lose your salvation is rejecting the truth of the gospel. If you reject this gospel, you have rejected the only One who saves you!

Truly, there are those who follow as many laws and religious rituals and ordinances as they can, in order to claim they are truly saved. Why do they do this? Because they don’t believe the gospel message is so simple? More truthfully than not, these people may be enslaved to so much sin (or a spirit of condemnation) that, by doing all these things, they feel they are somehow paying for their own sin and are more acceptable to God. They forget that grace is freely given by God. Humility is realizing daily we are struggling with sin and being thankful for the salvation of Jesus Christ. It’s this realization that gives us compassion (love), not judgment (condemnation) for others.

If I rightly judge anyone, it’s the “religious fanatics” that pervert the gospel of Christ, to the detriment of others. I am not their ultimate Judge (of course), but I can hardly tolerate them. Who in the world would want to believe in a God that beats you over the head every day? Expects you to follow this law, that law…not that we are lawless, but rather aware! Humbled! We live in an attitude of thanksgiving toward God, causing us to know His love ~ unconditional love by our Lord! It’s no wonder so many LEAVE the church (religious ones), but worse than that, leave the FAITH!

2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” THIS IS THE BOASTING! BOAST IN THE LORD! There are 26 verses in the Bible that tell us to do this!

On the other hand, the "religious" people will boast in their "religious works"! Look at what Ephesians 2:8-9 state, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should BOAST!"

This New Age garbage that’s all over the place, that claims man is god (i.e. that the 24 elders 'in heaven' are really the 24 stems of the human brain) and that god is in everyone and everything (no redemption needed) ~ or that all gods lead to a heavenly existence? SELF-DECEPTION and SELF-EXALTATION. This is the FLESH that is actually in rebellion against the humility in Christ! It’s idolatry! We should NEVER forget the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, the authority of God. When we believe and confess Jesus as LORD, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we are adopted into the family (elohim) of God and are called children of God. We will worship Him alone, in spirit and in truth! Accept the truth of your salvation through the simple gospel. He alone is worthy to be praised! If I receive any praise, let it go to Calvary! Whatever I do that appears to gain merit, it is the Lord that does this through me. I give it all to Jesus! I know I am a sinner saved by grace!! And I won’t doubt it! Don’t you let anyone cause you to doubt it, either!

Just as bad as the New Age 'gospel', is when a "Christian" church tells you that you are NOT saved, merely because you don't follow their interpretation of the Biblical ordinance(s) the "correct way". For example, some churches believe you are not saved unless you are water baptized; others say you have to be baptized a certain way (i.e. face down, sprinkled, or dunked).

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’” This passage is speaking of being born of water (birth through your mother’s womb) and the Spirit (a new birth of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ).  How do we know this?  READ THE NEXT VERSE: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  It's called being "born again".  Every man is born of the flesh, by the will of man, but each must be 'born again' of the Spirit, by the will of God (John 1:13).

Some churches interpret the water to mean baptism in water, but as we can see with the thief on the cross, he was never baptized in water, yet received the kingdom of God through being born again by faith in Jesus Christ. Water baptism is the baptism unto repentance.  Spirit baptism is the baptism of Christ, the one baptism that saves and seals you! For more on the doctrine of baptism, please read my hub John and Jesus: About BAPTISM.

Let’s say you worked for Bill Gates. Do you know the name? Most likely ~ How about Donald Trump? Okay; you’ve got the idea. Wherever you go in the earth, when you mention his name, people will jump to your every whim, right? Do you think you are representing the man in whose name you come? Absolutely. If you go around telling people you are a child of his, they will respect you just the same. But, if you then tell people Bill or Donald are powerless and fakes, controlling idiots that have a bunch of idiots following them around like robots, you would not only offend those who respect them, but Bill or Donald would most likely fire you. Suddenly, you are shamed, cast out, and society could care less who you are.

Now, let’s say you are a Christian. You follow Jesus Christ. Do people know the Name? Some respect it; some reject it. But in the spiritual realm, ALL know His Name and are subject to it! Because you go in His Name, even the demons are subject to His Name (not to your name). Those on earth who don’t know Jesus may get to know Him through you. They might come to understand the gospel truth, if you walk in the truth. If you don’t exalt yourself, but exalt Him and what He’s done for YOU, they will understand His saving love. If you have a “holier than thou” attitude, they will interpret God that way (prideful). They wouldn’t want to be like you, and they certainly don’t want to become enslaved to some works-based religion to be “acceptable to God”. The more people tried to keep the Law in the Old Testament, the more they felt the condemnation by it. Would they ever admit that? NO! They were hypocrites, prideful, and self-righteous!

But isn’t God prideful? NO. God became a man to die on the cross, to give Himself as a ransom for our sin.

1 Tim 3:16 is clear: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

He left His throne on high to become the servant of all. He even says in His Word, “If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, you must be the servant of all.” If you go around shaming the Name of the Lord, will He not cast you out? He is the ultimate authority. We would deserve it, for sure. The miracle of it is, He gives you the opportunity to repent, and sheds His forgiveness upon you the world cannot give. When you are born again, you are in this world, but not of it. Why do we love our Lord so much? It’s obvious. Why do we love others so much? Because He puts His heart in us and we love because He loves. Again, all authority is God’s. Even Bill and Donald will have to stand before Him one day. They cannot take their wealth with them. Their designated beneficiaries will inherit it, won’t they? For a time...and they will have to leave it behind.

Well, guess what? When we are God’s children, we inherit His kingdom. His peace and authority is in us. We walk in His name. The spirit realm is subject to Him (not to us, but His authority whereby we claim the Name). Likewise, we will rule with Him because we are in Him. We will worship Him and praise Him for His love and for the inheritance of eternal life He gives us. That inheritance will never pass away. This is salvation: humble yourselves and know that He is God, your Creator and your Father who loves you and gave Himself for you. He alone is your God and Savior.  He is LORD.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Put off the pride of the flesh, the works of the flesh, the “righteousness” of the flesh = “religion”. Repent, confess, believe, receive, and walk humbly in Him, never forgetting what He’s done for you. Understand His love and forgiveness. Understand the simple gospel truth. Don’t let the “religious” leaders of the world, nor the lies of the enemy steal your faith!

If you’ve been putting off salvation because of man-made religion, commandments and ordinances, prideful “Christianity”, or reasons such as this, KNOW the simple gospel of salvation and take your first three baby steps:

1. Acknowledge you are a sinner and rightfully condemned.
2. Acknowledge that Jesus died innocently on your behalf.
3. Acknowledge that He was raised from the dead, is Lord of lords and King of kings in His eternal kingdom, and gives you eternal life.

I have a hub called Come to Jesus: Salvation that will guide you through the plan of salvation. It’s yours, if you just accept your loving Savior today, knowing at that moment, He immediately accepts you!!